MINSK, July 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Belarus may join Russia’s ban on Ukrainian beef, milk and dairy product imports, Belarusian veterinary chief Yuri Pivovarchik said on Tuesday.

Pivovarchik made this statement during negotiations with deputy head of Russia’s agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor Yevgeny Nepoklonov.

Russia’s agricultural watchdog suspended on July 8 beef imports from Ukraine, except for meat carcasses, half-carcasses and bones in meat quarters over breaches of Ukrainian output certification.

From July 28, Russia’s Rosselkhoznadzor banned milk and dairy product imports from Ukraine over the presence of antibiotic residues in these foodstuffs.

“If risks (for Kazakhstan, which forms the Customs Union together with Russia and Belarus) were considerable, we would initiate similar negotiations with Kazakhstan,” Rosselkhoznadzor spokeswoman Yulia Trofimova told ITAR-TASS.

Belarusian veterinary data show that Ukraine has supplied 4,500 tons of dairy products into Belarus since early 2014.

Ukraine’s dairy product supplies to Russia totaled 19,600 tons worth $106.2 million from January to June 2014, according to data of Russia’s Federal Customs Service.